Letter to the Chief Human Resources Officer about the PSES (2)

October 18, 2018

Nancy Chahwan
Chief Human Resources Officer
OCHRO, Treasury Board Secretariat
219 Laurier, Ottawa ON K1P 5J6
By email: nancy.chahwan@tbs-sct.gc.ca

Dear Ms. Chahwan,

I am writing today as a follow-up to my October 15, 2018 letter about the most recent Public Service Employee Survey (PSES).

Since I first wrote to you on this issue, several of my members have contacted me to express their concerns over the need for clarity around some of the terms used in the PSES. I am sure you will agree that for Public Service Employee Survey results to be meaningful, questions must be presented in as clear a manner as possible. In this context, I would like to suggest that the 2019 PSES include definitions of the terms “senior management”, “staff”, “work unit”, “people I work with”, and “employees”.

Given that the government and bargaining agents both rely on the results of the survey to support their consultation work, I believe it is critical that the PSES be written in a manner that leaves respondents with no uncertainty as to the meaning of a question or the terminology used.

I thank you for your attention to this matter and look forward to our ongoing work together on issues of common interest.

Sincerely,

Debi Daviau
President
The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada


9 May 2018
Last month, I had the opportunity to represent PIPSC and the Canadian labour movement at the Labour 7 (L-7) summit in Ottawa. This was a preparatory meeting hosted by the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) leading up to the G-7 meeting this summer in Québec.

25 April 2018
Friends, I have great news! You finally have a union.

24 April 2018
Like all Canadians, members of the Institute are shocked by the senseless deaths and horrific injuries that occurred yesterday afternoon in Toronto. Our thoughts are with the victims and their families.

6 April 2018
Last week I had the opportunity to meet with the National Capital Region Liberal Caucus. I was grateful for the warm reception I received and know that many of the Members of Parliament rearranged their schedules to be able to attend. I used this opportunity to raise PIPSC’s continued concerns with the disastrous Phoenix pay system.

14 March 2018
Following tremendous pressure on the part of public service bargaining agents, the government has finally introduced some much-needed flexibility in the recovery of overpayments caused by Phoenix.

28 February 2018
I am pleased to report that yesterday’s federal Budget committed $16M towards the building of an alternative pay system to replace the disastrous Phoenix.